Hargreaves told us that after hearing the story, he found that Rothko
was commissioned
by the Seagram company to paint an installation for The Four Seasons restaurant
in New York in 1958. Rothko, who despised the excess and pretense of the
elite crowd the restaurant was hoping to attract, accepted the commission.
He claimed that he tried to create "something that will ruin the
appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room. If the restaurant
would refuse to put up my murals, that would be the ultimate compliment.
But they won’t. People can stand anything these days." The
painting that was defaced is one of the paintings in the Seagram series.

So, together with chef and stylist Caitlin
Levin, Hargreaves decided to bring the tale full circle and reinterpreted
the work with something edible: rice! Link
- Thanks Henry!